Which House Plants Can I Root in a Glass?
Growing plants from slips (softwood or herbaceous cuttings) rooted in water used to be a common practice and is still popular among home gardeners. It is the easiest way to propagate certain plants, especially houseplants. You can use glasses, jam jars, beer bottles, plastic cups, soda bottles or milk jugs to root your favorite houseplants.
What you consider to be a houseplant depends where you live -- bougainvillea and winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum), which are garden residents in the south, are grown as houseplants in the north or as indoor winter/outdoor summer plants.
Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Popular Houseplants Which Root In Water
-
African violets root easily in water. Gardening forums are full of reports of rooting plants in water. Favorites include impatiens, philodendron, wandering Jew (Tradescantia flumensis), coleus (Solenostemon spp.), geranium (Pelargonium spp.), African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha), begonias and Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi).
Many fig species such as weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) also root very easily, as will the Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa).
Many culinary herbs root easily in water. This is a great way to keep herbs fresh in your kitchen. Just pop cut stems in water and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), mint (Mentha spp), basil (Ocimum basilicum), oregano (Origanum vulgare) and even lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) will usually root within a couple of weeks. If you buy a pack of herbs from the supermarket, root the pieces that you don't use in your cooking.
Vines
-
Like most vines, honeysuckle roots easily in water. Most vines and creeping plants are easy to root in water; any vine is worth a try. Winter jasmine, purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.), clematis and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) all root in water.
Most creeping plants called "ivy", including grape ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), English ivy (Hedera helix), Swedish ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus), even Devil's ivy (Epipremnun aureum), will all root in water.
With vines you can take a long piece of stem and curl it up in water (or a shallow pot) and it will grow roots all along the stem, then sprouts. This very quickly produces a plant with lots of shoots.
-
Water and Rot Issues
-
Don't blame smelly green water and rotting plants on city water, chlorine or water softeners. Foul water is usually due to not changing the water often enough or too much sunshine. The water needs to be changed regularly to increase oxygenation and keep down the algae and bacterial growth.
Change the water at least once a week, rinsing the plant stem under the tap. This is why many gardeners root slips in the kitchen.
Sunshine increases algae growth. Keep the glass out of direct sunlight. Or tape paper around the glass to reduce the light. Amber glass or beer bottles work as long as the rooted slips are taken out before roots get so long the narrow bottle mouth causes damage.
Many houseplants have tender tissues which rot quickly if damaged or bruised. When you prepare the slips use a sharp knife to cut the leaves or stem, and pull leaves off the bottom part of the stem; leaves sitting in water rot quickly.
Transplanting
-
Plant carefully to avoid damaging new roots. Getting the cuttings to root is easy, but planting them out is more of a challenge. Some garden experts dislike rooting plants in water because of their tendency to die when they are finally potted on. Roots grown in water are more fragile and less woody than roots which grow in soil, and are more easily damaged.
To avoid this problem, don't leave cuttings too long in water, only until root bumps form or roots are an inch or two long. A few plants (vines) can grow permanently in water, but most plants are more likely to die if left in water. The newly potted plant must be kept moist and shaded for a week or two. Some people put pebbles or glass beads in the water, as the roots rub the pebbles they grow more root hairs which are beneficial when planted.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit John Foxx/Stockbyte/Getty Images Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images Ableimages/Lifesize/Getty Images
